


Love Me (But Know When To Leave)

by Pups_Side_Box (Puppyinabox)



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Angst, Blood, Hurt and Minimal Comfort, M/M, Mentioned aftercare, Mildly Dubious Consent, Possibly Dubious Consent, Rough Sex, neither of them are in a good mental state, relationships, shadowy figure is a separate consciousness, vague penetration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:35:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28840248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puppyinabox/pseuds/Pups_Side_Box
Summary: Boxman shares his and PV’s bed with Shadowy Figure, in the morning PV patches him up.
Relationships: Lord Boxman/Shadowy Figure (OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Love Me (But Know When To Leave)

Shadowy’s hands were cold on Boxman’s bare stomach, colder than PV’s, than he remembered. It had been months, but his face looked similar enough, lines of exhaustion were more stark, and his face lacked the color and life, the love, he knew venomous to have. His grip was cruel, but Boxman could pretend it was hungry. It made him feel hunted, which was close enough to being wanted, to being loved.

“You flinch when we touch.” Shadowy muttered against his neck,

“Nervous energy.” He said, half apologizing, but he knew shadowy liked the way he flinched, like an experiment. Shadowy hummed, then bit into the muscle where his shoulder and neck met. It burned.

It had been months since they’d shared their bed, besides to sleep. Months since he and professor venomous had talked past business things, or Boxman asking him if he was ok. Professor venomous always said he was tired. At night Venomous would curl along Boxman’s back and fall asleep and shadowy would then wake up and walk away. The gentle creak would wake Boxman every night, but he’d pretend to be asleep. He knew better than to ask. He felt like if he was just as exhausted then that would be helping PV, that it would make up for all he couldn’t do.

Shadowy dug claws into the plush of Boxman’s thighs, blood fell from where he did this,

“You’re holding back.” Boxman said, he didn’t know if it was meant to mock shadowy or ask him to do more.

“You prefer me held back.” There was almost hate in his voice, “prefer me down.”

“I don’t.”

“You’d break then. Break if I gave you everything.”

“I survived the sun.”

“You… you were forged in the sun, how could a father ever kill his son?” The play on words echoed a poetry and love Boxman convinced himself meant venomous was with him, even in these moments, even with blood on their sheets.

“Just fuck me.” He sighed, staring at the ceiling, “if you’d want to.”

Shadowy was want incarnate, the question was entirely rhetorical.

He prepped him, surprisingly, Boxman didn’t know why he was surprised. Shadowy’s fingers were cold in him, and didn’t warm like venomous’s did, but they moved like his did. He must have known, or maybe muscle memory really went that deep.  
The pace was harsh and fast, shadowy fucked him like he was on borrowed time, Boxman half hope venomous would take the front, that what would fill him would be love.

Boxman told himself it was, shadowy never looked him in the eye anyways, so it was unlikely it was him. Venomous always looked him in the eye, at first it felt scary, but everything felt scary, but in a lovely way Everything was tentative, shaky and gentle. Boxman had learned to love being seen so deeply, so vulnerably.

In the morning venomous ran a finger over the bandages on Boxman’s thigh, lightly, not hurting at all.

“It’s ok.” Boxman held his hands, they shook.

“It isn’t, not for me.” He buried his face in the crook of his neck, his uninjured side.

“I can handle him… don’t worry.”

“You know neither of us know that for sure. You… you know how-“ his voice was soft and reedy, “you know how it was before.”

“That was completely different… I can’t get knocked up for one-”

“Boxy we had a baby all the same... we- we weren’t the same as now, it was business, but we had a baby. We lost our baby…” Boxman jr. had been ages ago, he didn’t think that wound still hurt. “And even then, business and joy, and family… it blurred”

“Oh PV that wasn’t your fault… and we can try again you know that…” 

“Just… it keeps happening. It’s never enough.”

Boxman forced himself not to internalize that, convinced himself the inadequacy was directed at himself, and not Boxman. It still stung.

“I don’t want… I don’t want it to- to happen again.”

“I’m not silverspark, PV. I’m not a hero. We both know I’d put up with less. If it got too horrible, you know I’d leave. But until then I’m here, for you.”

“You promise? I don’t… I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Of course.”

He hoped it never came to that, to having to leave. The idea of it hurt enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to the voxman server I’m in, this concept has lived in my brain


End file.
